To be fully transparent, I may have played a small role in this narrative about Dak Prescott being an MVP candidate. I mentioned this on the most popular Cowboys podcast in the country Sunday, and it apparently had legs.
For the record, I’m not sure Prescott has performed as well this season as his numbers suggest. He put up a ton of empty numbers in that loss to the Green
Bay Packers. And the loss to the Jets alone would be enough to end the MVP hopes for most quarterbacks. But Prescott was brilliant against the Vikings and Lions. He is now the third wheel in an MVP race including Russell Wilson and Lamar Jackson. And Cowboys legend Troy Aikman has thrown fuel on the fire by suggesting it’s time for Jerry Jones to pay up.
“I really do not know why he has not yet been paid,” Aikman said on The Ticket. “And that’s not a criticism of anyone’s. I don’t know if it’s just they’re so far apart. I don’t think there’s any doubt they want to sign him. I do think that if Dak were to be signed, I think it would give him a lift and I think that would be a positive as they head down the stretch through December and into the postseason.”
I am typically in agreement with Aikman on a lot of topics, but I don’t think signing Prescott to a huge deal would give this team an extra boost. This is a team that features a mediocre defense to go along with a significant amount of firepower at wide receiver. Could the Cowboys pull off a win in Foxboro on Sunday? I don’t really see it. But the good news is the Eagles aren’t poised to have a big run. Quarterback Carson Wentz has never regained the form he showed during the Eagles run to the Super Bowl. This team is even more flawed than the Cowboys on defense despite a decent performance against the Patriots on Sunday.
To try to get a grasp on where Prescott is in the MVP race, I took a long look at Pat Mahomes’ numbers from last season. His 2018 MVP season was remarkable in so many areas. The fact that 32.8 percent of his completions went for 10 yards or more really grabbed my attention. Mahomes was driving the ball down the field, but he also had the benefit of an elite screen game. Prescott has had 34.3 percent of his completions go for 10 yards or more. They are virtually tied at 12.4 percent when it comes to completions of 20 yards or more. The only area where 2018 Mahomes is smoking Prescott is in the touchdowns category. He had 50 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Prescott has 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions through 10 games. The good news for Prescott is that 2019 Mahomes has 19 touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s still capable of going on a huge run, but he’s currently fourth on my (revered) MVP ballot.
I don’t sense Prescott is the least bit concerned about his contract at this point in the season. He knows that he’s going to surpass Jared Goff and Wentz, and that seems appropriate. I’ve never felt like doing a contract in the middle of the season inspires a team in any way. And I just don’t think it’s a huge priority for Jerry right now. He’ll never let Prescott leave in free agency, so it’s sort of a non-story at this point.
I don’t recall Aikman being motivated by a huge contract extension during a season, and I don’t think that’s required before the end of this one.
